Title III - New York Elder Caregiver Support Program

The New York Elder Caregiver Support Program (funded under Title III, Part E of the Older Americans Act) supports informal caregivers as they carry out their caregiving responsibilities. New York's
Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) provide a multifaceted system of support services for informal caregivers of older people, as well as for grandparents and other older relatives caring for children.

AAAs must provide all five components of the Title III-E caregiver program, although they may use funds other than Title III-E to do so. The Title III-E service components are:

Information for caregivers about available services.

Assistance for caregivers in gaining access to these services.

Individual counseling, support groups, and caregiver training to assist
caregivers in the areas of health, nutrition, and financial literacy, and in
decision-making and problem-solving related to their caregiving roles.

Respite to temporarily relieve caregivers by providing a short-term break,
through home care, overnight care in an adult home or nursing home, adult day care, and other services.

Supplemental services, a flexible component to complement care provided by
caregivers, such as a personal emergency response system, assistive technology,
home modifications, home delivered meals, transportation.

20 percent of AAAs serve grandparents and older relatives who care for children with developmental disabilities.

Innovative programming including: the creation of local caregiver coalitions to share information and resources for common populations; comprehensive caregiver
training programs, such as "Powerful Tools for Caregivers," which teach
caregivers to take care of themselves, and an "Institute for Caregivers," which offers an extensive array of courses such as "Tips, Tricks and
Techniques for Day-to-Day Homecare," "Women Can Fix: Tips for the
Late-Blooming Handywoman," and "Men Making Meals."

Title III-E funds: During the current State Fiscal Year, AAAs plan to use their Title III-E funds as follows:

Over 75 per cent of AAAs are conducting public presentations and participating
in community educational events.

Almost 95 per cent of AAAs are providing one-on-one assistance.

All AAAs but one (58 out of 59) are providing counseling, support groups. and
training; and 85 per cent are providing two or more of these services.

95 per cent of AAAs are providing respite, with home care services being the
most prevalent, followed closely by adult day care; two-thirds of AAAs are
providing at least two different types of respite, and more than 20 per cent are
providing four or more different services.